The End of Sheep

I recently visited my sister in Denver, and we went to Fancy Tiger Crafts (and to Sweet Action, which is right across the street--yum!), where I bought some wool yarn and a discussion ensued.  Sarah is working on becoming a vegan.  A serious vegan, head to toe.  She is also one of the biggest fans of my knitting.  Not wanting to rock the boat, she hadn't expressed to me that she doesn't want to wear wool anymore until I flat out asked.  I will respect her wishes from here on out, but I have to admit that I'm struggling with some of them.  Sarah does not want to use wool because of two factors: animal treatment and animal death.

To the first point, we discussed how big industry wool is just as bad as factory farming for meat.  While I agree with her on this, I have not taken steps to eliminate that kind of wool from my use (I am a vegetarian, but I still wear leather shoes and use products with down filling). A vegan friend in Chicago and I once talked about a similar topic after she had purchased a down coat.  The truth for me is that I care more about how something was made (factory conditions, quality fabrics from plant and animal sources--not petroleum products) than how the animals are raised, when it comes to wool, leather, or down.When I buy wool yarn and yarn from other animal fibers, I like to buy local, from companies that are sourcing their wool from small operations and spun in family mills, or from companies that trace the origin of their yarns to the sheep that grew the wool, but I do not exclusively buy those yarns. I appreciate that more and more yarn companies and dyers are sourcing their wool in sustainable ways.

So I asked Sarah whether she would use yarn that was sheared, spun, dyed, and purchased locally, since those yarns are more likely to be gotten from sheep that were cared for and treated well.  The sticking point for Sarah, and this speaks to her second factor, is that she has no way to know how those animals die.  Are they killed for meat when they are no longer producing quality wool? Are they auctioned to inhumane businesses? If they live out their happy life, are they allowed to die naturally, euthanized, or slaughtered.

I have to admit that I never thought about the end of life of a sheep raised for wool. And it rankled me. I argued with my sister over things that we both believe in because I am bothered that I don't know the answer and I continue to purchase wool without knowing. All these "sustainable" yarn companies, and companies that put pictures of their sheep on the labels don't disclose how their animals die.  For one, it's too depressing to think about, and for two, it isn't important to most people.  For three, the way farm animals' lives are ended is fraught with political (and ethical) frustrations and problems.

I worry that Sarah is becoming extremist in her views, and I would like her to look a little closer at the human side of the story.  But I know that animals mean more to her than her own life, and I have to respect her choices, even when I think she hasn't seen all sides of the issue.  However, I need to learn more about both the treatment of sheep (and goats, and all the camelids) for my own interests. I argued with her quite vehemently about all of this, partly because my own beliefs were challenged and my ignorance exposed.  I'm glad Sarah is passionate and willing to debate with me, because I learned of holes in my own knowledge and can now explore this further.  I hope she wasn't too frustrated with me and gained some perspective, too.

We also discussed round ups and whether or not they are cruel (I tried using the vicuna as an example of an animal that is sheared in the wild), but we are not going to agree on that point.

To end, here's a picture of a work nearly finished, worked in linen and started before my recent debate.

Tytonidae Cowl, unfinished.

On Hold

Because of the incredible waves Ravelry is making, and because I did not have the foresight to see that it is going to change the world of knitting as we know it (there are 11352 people in front of me on the waiting list), I am putting my knitting blogs research on hold. The social networking aspect of Ravelry is going to become the primary networking and community building space for all knit bloggers very soon. The interest that it has generated and the groups that have already formed is incredible. I'd hate to do all this research on blogs only to have another community forming right under my nose.

If I felt like I had the time, I'd contact the Ravelry folks and talk to them about the phenomenon they have created. That would be the cutting-edge research I should be thinking of conducting. But with all my life changes and preparations for those changes (like moving in a month, packing, selling my condo, starting a job, finishing the fieldwork I'm currently doing, buying a car, learning to live in the desert, and so on), I just don't have the time to be at the forefront of research.

Thank you to everyone who answered my questions. I will save them for when I get back to this research. I am so grateful to you for taking the time to participate. I may not have started a blog of my own if it weren't for the research, and now blogging has become an important part of my knitting. I am so pleased to have made some blog friends and to feel a part of this community. I am especially thankful to those of you who have included my blog on their reading list, and I'm glad I've added so many interesting blogs to my reading list. Thank you.

Maybe this should be a Travel Blog

All this travel has kept me too busy to knit. I did start something for a friend who is due any day with her first baby. I finally feel like I want to sit down and work on knitting.

Here's the thing. I've got this knitting blog project hanging over my head. I asked a few questions to a few bloggers who graciously replied. Then I let it go. It's been months since I've touched the responses. I wanted to follow up with personalized questions, but the holidays happened, then work got so bad I could barely move when I got home, then I quit my job, and now I've been traveling.

But the annual American Folklore Society meeting is coming up. I'm on a panel about using the internet for research. I'd like to actually have something to say. So here's my next step. I want to know why. Why blog about knitting? Why not blog about something else we do everyday? I know some people include food posts or posts about reading in their blogs, but ultimately, our blogs are knitting blogs. Why? Please email me. Tell me why.

I'm also thinking of creating a survey, with the hopes that more people will respond and I can have some statistics to share.

View from Fayette Historic Townsite

Lake Michigan


We canoed this part of the Indian River. This was an easy section.

Dan put his new socks to the test. They held up well in the muck, on the fallen trees, and sloshing through the water. He had decided that his shoes should stay dry (they didn't--we just had too much water splashing about), so he wore just these socks. I'm so glad that he actually uses them. The socks did well. Wool is so great for the water. He had good grip on the trees when we had to push the canoe over, though it could have been due to all the sand that collected on them. When we got back to Chicago, we washed them in the washing machine. They came out great, though clumped with sand. I'm glad the sand stayed on the socks and didn't go down the drain. So Dan brushed them off and gave them another rinse. I'm so proud of these socks.